Last season, former Ankeny Centennial kicker Jake Pinegar was booting field goals in front of, on a good night, a couple thousand fans. On Sept. 1 in his first-ever college game, he netted six field goals in front of more than 105,000 onlookers.

Now at Penn State, the freshman kicker connected on all five of his extra point tries and netted a 32-yard field goal in the second quarter. In all, he accounted for eight points. The Nittany Lions beat Appalachian State that night by seven, 45-38.

Pinegar’s 32-yard make tied the game at 10 with just 12 seconds left in the first half.

As a senior for the Jaguars last season, Pinegar’s longest field-goal make was 50 yards. As of right now, he might have to wait before getting a chance to better that in college.

A few days prior to Penn State’s season-opening win over Appalachian State, head coach James Franklin said that he wanted to ease his young kicker into the season and slowly build his confidence, according to Penn State student blog onwardstate.com.

It won’t be too long before the the Ankeny native will have a chance to kick against the likes of Ohio State, Michigan and yes, Iowa, whom Pinegar’s Nittany Lions will play on Oct. 27.

Devyn Robinson brings home gold

Last month, Ankeny Centennial volleyball standout Devyn Robinson was selected as one of 12 girls to represent the United States on its youth national team.

Robinson, a junior, was the state’s top-ranked volleyball prospect in the class of 2020. She missed the first part of the Jaguars’ season to compete in the 2018 NORCECA Girls’ U18 Continental Championship from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2 in Honduras.

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Ankeny Centennial's Devyn Robinson celebrates a point against Dubuque Hempstead during their 5A quarterfinal match Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017, at the Iowa Girls' High School State Volleyball Tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.(Photo: Rodney White/Register file photo)

She has returned to Ankeny with a gold medal.

Robinson helped the Americans to a 5-0 record in Honduras, including a dominant 25-13, 25-12, 25-23 win over Canada in the gold medal match on Saturday.

According to teamusa.org, Robinson recorded eight kills on 14 flawless attacks and five blocks for 13 points in that gold medal match.

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Ankeny Centennial sophomore Devyn Robinson celebrates after scoring a point against Valley during the 2017 Iowa high school state volleyball tournament on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, in Cedar Rapids.(Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/The Register)

Now, the Wisconsin-commit will rejoin the Jags, which despite her absence, have started the season red-hot. Centennial has started the season 13-1, and is ranked No. 2 in Class 5A.

Hawkettes gaining momentum

Ankeny’s volleyball team came into the season with high hopes, and an extremely tough schedule early in the season has put them to the test.

The Hawkettes are 8-6 through their first 14 matches. But the schedule has been unforgiving; of those six losses, five of them have come against teams ranked in the top six of Class 5A.

But the Hawkettes still find themselves highly regarded, they’re ranked No. 7 by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

Recently, though, Ankeny has been really good. In their last seven matches, the Hawkettes are 5-2, including wins over ranked opponents Waukee, Iowa City West and Dubuque Hempstead. Most recently, they defeated Mason City in dominant fashion, 3-0.